


sweetest mouth and sharpest scythe

by Husaria



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: F/F, Folklore, Slavic Mythology & Folklore - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 23:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20236315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Husaria/pseuds/Husaria
Summary: In her haste to finish harvesting, Lenka remains in the fields during the hottest part of the day - the part when beautiful noonwraiths approach their latest victims.





	sweetest mouth and sharpest scythe

**Author's Note:**

> Been playing the Witcher 3 a lot and found out that noonwraiths are a very well-known creature in Slavic mythology, so I had to :)
> 
> Written for APH Yuri Week 2019 Day 2: Mythology/Culture
> 
> Also Lenka = Czechia, Jakub = Slovakia

The hot, midday sun bore down upon the golden wheat fields, a small breeze flowing through them like a ripple.

Jakub wiped some sweat off his face. “I’m going to go inside for a nap,” he said.

“Really? Now?” asked Lenka. She glanced over at the remainder of the field that needed to be harvested. “There’s not much left.”

“It’s dangerous to be working now,” he said.

“We only have a quarter of the field to harvest,” said Lenka.

“I don’t want to get caught by a _polednice_.”

Lenka rolled her eyes. “When has that _ever_ happened?”

“Recently!” Jakub insisted. “I heard a rumor from the town next over that a woman found her husband without his head when he was supposed to be working the fields.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Lenka watched her brother return to the house, and continued harvesting the wheat. Her back ached and more sweat poured down her face, but if she finished early, she could go to the village tavern for a beer.

The breeze became stronger and dust whipped up in a small flurry. Dust flurries caused by the wind were normal, but Lenka kept an eye on it in case in came too close.

The flurry turned into a cloud that came closer and closer. Lenka’s dress spun.

She shut her eyes and raised her arm over her face, waiting for the dust to pass.

The dust settled and Lenka lowered her arm.

A young woman in a white dress hovered a few inches above Lenka’s head. Her silver hair glittered in the noon sun. Fresh blood dripped from her scythe onto the freshly cut strands of wheat.

_Polednice_ , a noonwraith.

“Hello,” she said in a voice that reminded Lenka of honeyed mead. “What’s your name?”

_Keep your head down and answer her questions,_ Lenka told herself.

“My name is Lenka,” she said.

She took her scythe and began to gather more wheat.

“Do you live in the village nearby?” the noonwraith asked.

More beads of sweat formed on Lenka’s forehead, and she wiped them off with her sleeve.

“Yes,” Lenka said.

The noonwraith floated to Lenka’s right side. It was the hottest part of the day, but the specter was cold.

“Do you have any family? It’s rare for a young woman to be out in the fields alone.”

“I have a brother,” said Lenka. “A younger brother.”

“And your parents?”

Lenka moved more of the wheat into a pile.

“How old are you, Lenka?”

“Eight…eighteen.” She gulped.

“Eighteen? You’re old enough to be married.”

The noonwraith floated around her in a circle and stopped in front of her. She took a soft hand smeared with blood and lifted Lenka’s chin.

“So, why aren’t you?”

Lenka’s heart pounded, and she breathed quickly through a clenched jaw.

“It’s just me and my brother!” she exclaimed. “We have no one else. I have to wait for him to grow older.”

The noonwraith narrowed her cold blue eyes. “But there’s another reason, isn’t there?”

Lenka’s mouth went dry and her body broke out in tremors. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The noonwraith leaned forward to examine her face. Lenka felt her cold breath on her cheeks and lips.

Some of the blood from her scythe dripped onto Lenka’s shoes.

“You’re lying,” the noonwraith purred, “but that’s to be expected. You humans have odd rules about such mannerisms.”

She released Lenka’s chin, and Lenka gasped, staggering forward onto knees, dropping her own scythe onto the wheat.

The noonwraith tilted her head to the side. “Have you ever been to Prague?”

“Ha-Have I?” Lenka gasped. “B-Been to Prague?”

She wiped her face with her hand; blood smeared onto her palm.

“Yes,” the noonwraith said.

“N-No!”

Lenka picked up her scythe.

“And…and your name?” Lenka asked.

The noonwraith blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I-I apologize…” Lenka imagined the noonwraith preparing to raise her scythe. “I just asked your name.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” said the noonwraith. “My name is Natalya.”

“Oh…Natalya…”

There were suddenly two, three Natalyas in front of her. Lenka’s legs had been replaced with lead.

“That’s…that’s a nice name…”

She swayed side to side like the ears of wheat.

She collapsed onto her harvested wheat.

***

Lenka opened her eyes to the sound of running water. She rested on her back underneath an oak tree.

“You’re awake.”

Natalya floated down to her from her perch on a gnarled tree branch.

“Wh-Where?!”

“We are by a stream,” said Natalya.

Lenka scrambled to her feet. She recognized the area; it was two miles from her house.

“Your face is extremely red.”

“You didn’t kill me?” Lenka said.

“Do you _want_ me to kill you?”

“No!” Lenka exclaimed. “N-No, I don’t.”

“Most people don’t.”

“Why did you bring me here?” Lenka asked.

Natalya shrugged. “You would have roasted further in the sun. You’re burned enough as it is.”

Lenka touched her cheek and felt it searing hot.

“I should go back,” she said. “Jakub…my brother…”

Natalya glanced down, and Lenka saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I understand.”

Lenka cupped some of the stream’s water into her hands and splashed it onto her sunburnt face.

“It’s nearly evening anyhow,” said the noonwraith. “I will be disappearing soon.”

“Oh…” Lenka drank some of the water. It refreshed her dry mouth. “Thank you for taking me here.”

“You’re welcome. I ordinarily don’t do this with humans.”

Lenka stood up, drying her hands on her skirts. “Why _did_ you?”

Natalya shrugged. “You intrigue me.”

Lenka blinked. “Thank…you?”

“Of course,” said Natalya.

Lenka didn’t want to wait long enough for the noonwraith to change her mind. “I need to go back home.”

“I know.”

She turned to leave and found Natalya there in front of her.

“But before you leave—”

Natalya’s blood-smeared hand lifted her chin again, and this time, pressed her cold lips against hers.

Lenka froze to the spot, her heart beating fast.

Tentatively, she rested a hand on Natalya’s side and parted her lips just slightly. Natalya removed her hand from her chin and pushed her closer.

She opened her mouth and pressed into Natalya with a groan, both hands pawing at her dress, wishing nothing more than to melt into the specter’s body.

Their tongues touched, and Natalya pulled away. The sunlight glinted off her scythe.

“Good bye, Lenka,” Natalya whispered.

She whipped up a sudden cloud of dust and dirt. Lenka shut her eyes and raised her arm over her face.

And when Lenka lowered her arm, she was gone.


End file.
